Confidence
by MaelstromUchiha
Summary: She was a Genin when they met for the first time and he suggested her promotion. The second time she was a Jonin and a hostage, while he found her pathetic.


Sasuke looked stoically from his place as the Genin fought to attain a Chunin rank. They by no means were good, considering they didn't even use their brain to think, just pure strength, trying to overpower the enemy. It was pathetic, but he couldn't say he too didn't make that mistake, but his power at that point had by far surpassed them and he fought someone, that need pure strength or speed to beat.

He didn't know why the idiot had appointed him as judge for this Chunin exam, but he knew that if it continued like this or the four battles before that, that no one would pass. Shifting his attention back to a more pressing issue, his relationship, if you could call it that, with Sakura. She was a good girl and good Kunoichi, but she was just so mellow with him.

Why couldn't she show a little more attitude towards him? Be more aggressive, he had told her so, numerous times and she just didn't do it. She tried to act coy around him, flushing and all and it was more tiring than anything. He wanted her to be a bit more fierce, maybe like she was to everyone else but to him.

Sighing he looked at the arena only to find the last match had begun for the day, a Hyūga vs a Nara. Finally a good fight, he thought as he watched the Hyūga dance around the Nara's shadows, throwing knives to keep him on his toes and less focused.

He saw how she positioned a Kunai behind him, switched herself with the Kunai, an advance move, considering most could only switch with a log or rock, a bigger object then a flimsy Kunai. She was about to land a hit, but the Nara stopped her short, a centimeter before she hit him. She forfeited quickly, realizing her situation.

He was a bit disappointed, but it was the best decision she could make, in a real fight her life would have ended just as fast, where here she could have struggled a bit longer. The first two names he wrote down were Nara and Hyūga that day and the only ones.

Line

Three days later he stood before the Hokage with three Jonin by his side, talking about the Genin which would rise a rank. "So Sasuke, has anyone caught your attention?" asked Naruto, amused as he knew his best friend and his standards quiet well. "Yes" he answered. They waited for him to continue, but he didn't.

"Well?" prompted Naruto, a bit annoyed his friend let him wait like a fool in front of these Jonin. "Nara and Hyūga" was his answer this time, as he hadn't learned their full names. "Well the Nara makes sense, as he was quiet capable and made it to the semi finals, but the Hyūga? She was beaten quiet easily by the Nara and hadn't gotten past the first round"

Ignoring the Jonin which spoke he locked eyes with Naruto for just a moment before vanishing in thin air, faster then the four left could react. Naruto meanwhile was quiet intrigued, because if this Hyūga, his girlfriends younger sister really had lost in the first round, why had Sasuke given her name? For the first time since quiet a while he was stumped.

Line

Sasuke sat one the Hokage monument, on the head of the first Hokage, a habit he had when he wasn't out of town on a mission for the village or himself, to think. It had been quiet a while since he had time for it, with Sakura on his tail and the Chunin exam. He was tired, so when he felt someone approaching he simply thought for a moment of running away, which seemed to some people like teleportation.

The person didn't speak, but just dropped besides him on the head of the first Hokage and stared at the village. He stared at her, the Hyūga from the Chunin exam, for a second before looking down at the village again, which had seemed to grow since he was a little kid.

They sat in silence, neither spoke for quiet a while, before she opened her mouth to ask him something. "Why did you suggest to make me a Chunin? I know that I am not that good as a Kunoichi, as I have neither the strength nor the stamina for it"

He only chuckled and didn't answer, because he himself didn't exactly know why, but her fighting, with that of the Nara stood out, because neither relied unlike the others on brute strength, even though their skills weren't as good as the others. "Did you accept?" was his question back at her and she shook her head.

"No, but then Hokage-sama, said I should talk to you, before I was allowed to decline and told me where to find you" Here he chuckled lowly, before standing and looking down at her. "You don't need just brute force in a battle, which is why the Nara Clan hasn't been wiped out yet, as they don't have brute strength, though most people seem to forget it. Considering how our own Hokage fights"

He walked to the edge of the head, staring down. "You really should take that promotion" He vanished, just disappearing into nothingness.

Line

Two years later he was out on a special mission to help a Jonin squad which had been taken as hostages and would be exchanged for money. An S-Ranked Nukenin of Otogakure had bested them and he was sent to rescue them, as Otogakure now had surprisingly many Nukenin emerging, that flee from there.

Such missions from Konoha were quiet frequent, as he was sent only up against S-Rank threats, but they would only come up every few months. Though Konoha hadn't really much of a choice, considering how they only had four S-Rank Shinobi, the Hokage, Might Gai, Sakura and himself. Thinking about Sakura brought back bad memories as he had a falling out with her a while back.

It was the first time she had shown her fierce side towards him and it was a relief, that he couldn't just walk over her however he pleased. But she had ended their relationship, saying that he was too unreasonable and had demanded to much outlandish stuff. He answered easily to her outburst that he wanted to see how far he could push her and then she had swallowed her fury and said this wasn't a game and had gone a different way.

Shaking out of his thoughts he stared at the corpse before him, it was of the S-Rank Nukenin he was sent to kill and behind him were four Konoha Jonin plastered with a Seal that disrupted the Chakra flow, quiet a common thing really. He stepped forward and ripped the seals off of them, before beginning to trek towards Konoha. It was a full day travel at the standard Jonin speed, though he could get their in half an hour, if he pushed himself.

He knew two of the four, one better then the other, being Konohamaru his best friends brother in all but blood and the Hyūga from that time. It seems like she matured quiet nicely, as she had achieved Jonin rank and her Chakra felt stronger then ever. He fell easily into their speed, as he always traveled faster if he had a mission.

Line

The next day they arrived in Konoha, safe and sound, though exhausted, some more then others. He , as he so often did, vanished from the spot just to reappear somewhere else, this time it being the Hokage's office. "Mission complete" he spoke, before turning to leave, like he always did, he never spoke with Naruto as long as he was on active duty.

"Wait" he halted, before he could walk out, as he normally did. "Tell me, what do you think about her?" he didn't need to specify who he meant, as it was clear. "Pathetic" he spoke, without hesitation and walked out of the door. Reaching the spot where he had left her roughly two years ago he sat down and thought back to his problem with Sakura.

He really needed to find a way to redeem himself to her, to show her she was special to him and he cared a lot about her. Something that showed her that, but didn't make her go back to her coy self around him, that gets flustered over everything nice he does for her.

He was interrupted by footsteps behind him, just like that time two years ago. He didn't say anything and she sat besides him, too in silence. "Am I really that pathetic?" she asked, fifteen minutes having passed since she sat besides him. Her voice was soft, but he picked it easily up.

"Yes, you are" he answered again without regret and hesitation, because he firmly believed it. "Why am I so pathetic? I have advance to one of the best Jonin in the village" she was lost, he realized and was looking in him for help, despite him being harsh on her, especially in front of the Hokage.

"You have potential, but you seem to not have trained in quiet a while, you are wasting it and are content with being one of the best instead of being the best. You have given up on becoming stronger, on reaching new heights of strength. You lack confidence in yourself" he spoke, the most he had said since his fight with Sakura.

She was silent, taking it all in it seemed and mulling it over, one thing he was thankful for. She just didn't accept his compliments and took them for granted. "it will be a long, long time before you won't learn anything anymore" were his words to her before he was about to go. She stopped him, by jumping into his way.

Then she stood on her tiptoes and gave him a peck on the cheek, before. "Thank you and by the way my name is Hyūga Hanabi" He blinked, a little surprised but continued on his way, stepping past her. "Uchiha Sasuke" were his parting words, as flames swallowed him and he had disappeared.


End file.
